Investing.com – Wall Street was slightly lower as investors stayed cautious amid a lack of progress in U.S.-China trade talks, while slowing growth in Europe increased worries about a global recession.
Manufacturing activity in Germany fell to its lowest level since 2009 this month, while manufacturing in the euro zone slipped to a six-year low and services grew at their slowest pace in eight months, according to data from IHS Markit.
The Dow fell 35 points or 0.1% by 9:45 AM ET (13:45 GMT), while the S&P 500 lost 2 points or 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite was down 6 points or 0.1%.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell 0.8%, while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) slumped 1.3% after Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) lowered its price target on the company by $100 to $2,200, citing lower near-term profitability.
Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) declined 12.8% after it said its Chief Financial Officer Greg Iverson has resigned. The news overshadowed reports that it had appointed Jonathan Johnson as CEO.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) inched up 0.4% after reports that U.S. trade regulators approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions. Apple supplier Micron (NASDAQ:MU) gained 1.5%.
In commodities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.2% to 98.282 and gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,527.35 a troy ounce. Crude oil futures gained 0.3% to $58.26 a barrel.